verb transitiveWord forms: ˌoverˈpopuˌlated or ˌoverˈpopuˌlating
to populate (an area) too heavily for the available sustaining resources
Derived forms
overpopulation (ˌoverˌpopuˈlation)
noun
overpopulate in American English
(ˌouvərˈpɑpjəˌleit)
transitive verbWord forms: -lated, -lating
to fill with an excessive number of people, straining available resources and facilities
Expanding industry has overpopulated the western suburbs
Derived forms
overpopulation
noun
Word origin
[1865–70; over- + populate]This word is first recorded in the period 1865–70. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: dunk, maverick, steamroller, tick-tack-toe, valenceover- is a prefixal use of over, occurring in various senses in compounds (overboard; overcoat; overhang; overlap; overlord; overrun; overthrow), and especially employed, with the sense of “over the limit,” “to excess,” “toomuch,” “too,” to form verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and nouns (overact; overcapitalize; overcrowd; overfull; overmuch; oversupply; overweight), and many others, mostly self-explanatory: a hyphen, which is commonly absent fromold or well-established formations, is sometimes used in new coinages or in any wordswhose component parts it may be desirable to set off distinctly